England v All Blacks
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Once Cam Roigard went off our kicking game was appalling. Without him, our kicking game is comfortably the worst of all the Tier One teams.
We must play players who can kick astutely and accurately at 9. We need to find better tactical kickers at 10. Our midfield needs to be coached how to kick.
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Well, that was all pretty embarrassing. An average England side whose lineout basically completely self-destructed - handing us a shitload of good possession - and they still beat us very soundly.
Robertson ditching McKenzie for Barrett last year, and more importantly persisting with him in the face of continual unacceptable performance of the basics, is the single worst AB selectorial decision I've ever seen. If he were 21 and full of potential I would struggle with it; in his mid 30s and having been in decline for several years it is actually absurd. -
@Kruse said in England Vs All Blacks:
... is Pollock an absolute cock?
Well, there is certainly some assonance...
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@Frank said in England Vs All Blacks:
Utterly bored of this dumb, badly coached side run by an insular group of insecure middle aged men who are scared to drop veterans, scared to try new things, and too stubborn to change their ways. Total bullshit. Tour is worst possible result. Razor stays and fuck all changes.
So you're recommending some DEI action then?
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@nostrildamus said in England Vs All Blacks:
@Nepia said in England Vs All Blacks:
Well he is a Saffa, what are you gonna do?
get decent mates?
I like to have a broad church of mates, the boerewors he cooks up when I stay with him balances things out somewhat.
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@Nepia said in England Vs All Blacks:
I like to have a broad church of mates, the boerewors he cooks up when I stay with him balances things out somewhat.
Ah I see, you have strong nutritional principles...
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@sparky said in England Vs All Blacks:
Once Cam Roigard went off our kicking game was appalling. Without him, our kicking game is comfortably the worst of all the Tier One teams.
We must play players who can kick astutely and accurately at 9. We need to find better tactical kickers at 10. Our midfield needs to be coached how to kick.
Roigard's first half performance probably stopped England scoring 50 points against us. That is not far from the truth.
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@BerniesCorner said in England Vs All Blacks:
@sparky said in England Vs All Blacks:
Once Cam Roigard went off our kicking game was appalling. Without him, our kicking game is comfortably the worst of all the Tier One teams.
We must play players who can kick astutely and accurately at 9. We need to find better tactical kickers at 10. Our midfield needs to be coached how to kick.
Roigard's first half performance probably stopped England scoring 50 points against us. That is not far from the truth.
England's shit lineout is the only thing that stopped that.
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@sparky said in England Vs All Blacks:
I've heard that Henry Pollock and co. go without caffeine all week, then chew strong caffeine gum on the bench before coming on.
Giving how fizzing with energy they were yesterday, I wonder if that isn't a trick we should copy?
Nothing new, George Gregan did so often, he bought a cafe or two!
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I thought the Dingwall try was actually quite symbolic for some of the deeper-lying issues within this team. It shows that the players don’t trust each other and that the opposition is generally smarter than them.

It is honestly an embarrassingly easy score for England: Mitchell throws the long pass to Lawrence, taking out both Taylor and Lakai from the defensive picture. It leaves England and the ABs with a two-on-two: Lawrence and Dingwall against Carter and Tupaea.
There is really no reason for Tupaea to bite in here, unless he doesn’t trust Carter to make the tackle on Lawrence. And that takes us all the way back to the try in the first half, where Carter gets flattened by the English centre. Tupaea gets a flashback, wants to put in a double shot, and then it’s just easy hands at the line for Lawrence. Proctor is far back because he’s covering the English attackers hidden in the boot; he’s trusting his teammates to execute the defensive 2-on-2.
It's smart from England but it is painfully naïve from an AB perspective. Big, individual errors, like Leroy Carter’s in the first half, are a mental challenge for a team. If you’re a good side, you immediately put it behind you and start again. If you’re mentally fragile, it becomes like a domino-effect, influencing your every move and decision from that moment onwards.
After the England Test, I think it’s pretty clear what kind of team these ABs are.
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@sparky said in England Vs All Blacks:
I've heard that Henry Pollock and co. go without caffeine all week, then chew strong caffeine gum on the bench before coming on.
Giving how fizzing with energy they were yesterday, I wonder if that isn't a trick we should copy?
Pollock has a punchable face, I really fear hes going to become this generations Matt Dawson for me.
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@Mauss said in England Vs All Blacks:
I thought the Dingwall try was actually quite symbolic for some of the deeper-lying issues within this team. It shows that the players don’t trust each other and that the opposition is generally smarter than them.

It is honestly an embarrassingly easy score for England: Mitchell throws the long pass to Lawrence, taking out both Taylor and Lakai from the defensive picture. It leaves England and the ABs with a two-on-two: Lawrence and Dingwall against Carter and Tupaea.
There is really no reason for Tupaea to bite in here, unless he doesn’t trust Carter to make the tackle on Lawrence. And that takes us all the way back to the try in the first half, where Carter gets flattened by the English centre. Tupaea gets a flashback, wants to put in a double shot, and then it’s just easy hands at the line for Lawrence. Proctor is far back because he’s covering the English attackers hidden in the boot; he’s trusting his teammates to execute the defensive 2-on-2.
It's smart from England but it is painfully naïve from an AB perspective. Big, individual errors, like Leroy Carter’s in the first half, are a mental challenge for a team. If you’re a good side, you immediately put it behind you and start again. If you’re mentally fragile, it becomes like a domino-effect, influencing your every move and decision from that moment onwards.
After the England Test, I think it’s pretty clear what kind of team these ABs are.
This picture tells it all : both Carter and Tupaea are on their heels instead of being on their toes. AB's defense is so passive ...
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@cgrant said in England Vs All Blacks:
@Mauss said in England Vs All Blacks:
I thought the Dingwall try was actually quite symbolic for some of the deeper-lying issues within this team. It shows that the players don’t trust each other and that the opposition is generally smarter than them.

It is honestly an embarrassingly easy score for England: Mitchell throws the long pass to Lawrence, taking out both Taylor and Lakai from the defensive picture. It leaves England and the ABs with a two-on-two: Lawrence and Dingwall against Carter and Tupaea.
There is really no reason for Tupaea to bite in here, unless he doesn’t trust Carter to make the tackle on Lawrence. And that takes us all the way back to the try in the first half, where Carter gets flattened by the English centre. Tupaea gets a flashback, wants to put in a double shot, and then it’s just easy hands at the line for Lawrence. Proctor is far back because he’s covering the English attackers hidden in the boot; he’s trusting his teammates to execute the defensive 2-on-2.
It's smart from England but it is painfully naïve from an AB perspective. Big, individual errors, like Leroy Carter’s in the first half, are a mental challenge for a team. If you’re a good side, you immediately put it behind you and start again. If you’re mentally fragile, it becomes like a domino-effect, influencing your every move and decision from that moment onwards.
After the England Test, I think it’s pretty clear what kind of team these ABs are.
This picture tells it all : both Carter and Tupaea are on their heels instead of being on their toes. AB's defense is so passive ...
That's a good description of Carter's missed tackle in the first half too. His weight was back on his heels which is partly why he got bumped off so easily.
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@Tim said in England Vs All Blacks:
Wonder if we can find a journalist in NZ rugby with enough insight and balls to say what a ton of the NZ rugby public are now saying, the Razor has to go
Instead we get phrases like concerning and underwhelming. It's almost as if they are scared